vortex viper 4-16x50 vx 6-24

new member, first post, been lurking a while and trying to search the posts but not finding what I want. I've been shooting 4 years now, bow hunter prior to that, always learning and still a lot left to learn about long range shooting. I live in BC, Canada

I'm starting to get really into shooting, slowly getting together reloading gear but not reloading yet

I shoot a 243 and 300wsm and very confident to about 300 yds...I'm trying to expand to my confident range to 500 yds on game and shoot paper at 500 to 700

new rifle savage 16fcss in 270wsm, and looking for a new scope, my current scopes are 3-9 and 4-12, regular duplex reticle and no external moa turrets

I was looking at the viper 4-16 and 6-24...the 4-16 seemed to have a subtantially brighter image than the 6-24, but I haven't taken them outside the store yet to compare them

for my 500 yd goal, is the 6-24 over kill?

does the extra magnification reduce the light gathering capacity of the scope?

not yet having much experience, is the 4-16 sufficent at up to 500, or will the extra magnification really help me?

Depends on the game you're hunting. 4-16x is more than enough for big game out to 500 yds. 6-24x might be useful for ground squirrels and prairie dogs. Between the two Vortex scopes, the 4-16x50 probably has the better optical design.

Set to the same magnification all 50 mm scopes will have similar brightness. That's because manufacturer's lens coatings have evolved to the point that most scopes above $200 have nearly the same transmission (within about a 5% spread). In low light, both scopes will start to loose brightness above about 7-8x magnification, depending on the shooter's age.

I have them both. I'd say go with the 4-16 because the eye box is more forgiving at 16 than the 6-24 is at 24. Contrary to Bruce's assertion, the mechanics of both optics are the same. Finally, light gathering capability is directly impacted by the diameter of the objective and the tube diameter.

very interesting, I'm 29 and my hair started thinning this year, better snack on more carrots...

You're still young enough that your pupils dilate to at least 7 mm in low light. I'm 56 and mine stop at about 6 mm. People in their 60s limit out closer to 5 mm.

As long as the exit pupil of the scope is at least as large as your eye pupil, the image will appear as bright as with the naked eye. If the exit pupil is smaller, the image will appear to loose brightness. It's just the physics of optics.

As you increase the magnification the scope exit pupil decreases. For a 50 mm scope the exit pupil drops below 7 mm at just over 7x magnification. To have the brightest image in low light, you want to set the scope magnification no higher than 7x. Either a 4-16x or 6-20x can give about the same brightness when set to 7x or less.

Obviously, this assumes your eye is centered in the exit pupil, which can be difficult to do in very low light. The 4-16x model may have an advantage here because of the larger exit pupils available below 6x, which make eye alignment easier.

I was facing this dilemma also, whether to go with 4x16 or 6x24 in the PST. I kept looking at the 2 side by side and I seemed to favor the 4x16. I think that's the way i'm going, especially after reading the advice in this article. I would be doing the same thing as BRvalley basically.

Here is my PST 6-24 MOA FFP scope with a Vortex custom Turret mounted. You may get an idea of what you can do with yours.

As for the magnification of your scope if you have the 4-16 power and want more power you don't have it. With the 6-24 you can always turn up the power if you want it. I love my scope which helps me shoot much better.